In a recent interview with The Metal Voice , James LaBrie of Dream Theater recalled the time he was invited to be the new vocalist for Iron Maiden and turned down the opportunity.
The year was 1993 and Bruce Dickinson had left Iron Maiden, opening a vocalist position that would eventually be filled by Blaze Bayley of Wolfsbane . At the time, LaBrie was one of the names considered to take Dickinson's place. His first album with Dream Theater, Image and Words , had been a great success in 1992 and the band was now looking for a manager.
It was in this context that James LaBrie met Rod Smallwood , Iron Maiden's longtime manager, and was surprised to hear the offer he was made. “He [and his assistant Merck Mercuriadis ] said to me, 'What do you think about being the lead singer of Iron Maiden?', and I said, 'What? What are we talking about? I'm confused. Aren't you here to possibly be Dream Theater's manager? Are you here to try and convince me to be the lead singer?',” LaBrie recalls.
“So I said, ‘No, absolutely not. And I’ll tell you why I’m not going to do it,’ and they asked, ‘What are they?’ and I said, ‘One: Dream Theater. That’s the reason. Period,’” James concluded.
The singer also stated that he and Bruce Dickinson have “mutual respect” for each other: “I remember thinking, ‘I’m not going to go out and sing Iron Maiden every night, even though I think they’re a great band and Bruce is a great singer. No, thank you.’ I needed to create something, which I created from the beginning, even though I wasn’t on the first Dream Theater album.”
READ ALSO: Blaze Bayley, former Iron Maiden vocalist, praises Bruce Dickinson: “Absolutely fantastic”
